Author name: Andrew Orochena

PRESIDENT’S LETTER, PITTSBURGH CHAPTER USA DANCE. JANUARY 27, 2026

USA Dance Inc. is actively recruiting dancers to the new National Dance Festival on March 27-29, 2026 at the Wyndham Grand Hotel Downtown for activities in one or more of the four tracks: Ballroom DanceSport Championships; Collegiate Ballroom DanceSport Championships; Social Dance Celebration; and a Professional Summit. Early registration and USA Dance membership save $$’s.

SOCIAL CELEBRATION

A multi-day dance camp with workshops accessible to social dancers and competitors and taught by local and national instructors.

• 3-course welcome dinner Friday night.
• Over 40 dance workshops in 2 ballrooms Saturday and Sunday.
• Themed (optional) social dances on Friday/Saturday from 7:30 – 11 pm.
• Spectator access to the National Championships.
• A “Locals” Weekend Package-(with all of the above). $369 for members.
• A la carte discounts for USA Dance members ($20 workshops; $35 social dances).
• 8 Fun Dance competitions for social dancers Friday afternoon. Spectator tickets, $25.00 in advance, $35.00 at the door.
  • Further information. https://usadancenationals.org/social-celebration.

NATIONAL DANCESPORT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Spectator Tickets Available: $40.00 in advance. $50.00 at the door.

Friday Evening Championship Events (preliminary schedule):

• Youth 10-Dance; Under 21, Standard; Adult Formation Team, 9-Dance, Smooth, Smooth Showcase,& Latin Showdance; Adult to Senior 2, Rising Star Rhythm & Standard; Pro Rhythm & Standard & Rhythm & Standard Showdance; Senior 1-6, 9-& 10-Dance, Smooth & Rhythm, Standard & Latin, Rising Star Latin & Smooth.

Saturday Evening Championship Events (Preliminary Schedule):

• Junior 2, Standard; Youth, Standard; Under 21, Latin; Collegiate Team Match, Rhythm & Standard; Adult, 10-Dance, Latin, Rhythm & Standard Showdances; Pro, Latin &Smooth and Showdances; Senior 1-6, 10-Dance; Rhythm, Latin & Smooth.

Sunday Evening Crowning Champions (Preliminary Schedule)-

• Junior 2, 10-Dance & Latin; Youth, Latin; Adult to Senior 2, Rising Star Latin & Smooth; Adult, Latin Showcase, Rhythm & Standard; Senior 1-6, Latin, Standard, Rhythm, Smooth, 9-Dance; Senior 3-6, Rising Star Standard,

Further information at https://usadancenationals.org/schedule

NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SUMMIT

• Workshops for teachers, organizers, judges, studio owners and Chapter leadership. Examination preparation and examinations for scrutineers and individual dances.

VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are critical to helping an expected 800 dancers move quickly and safely to chosen activities. We need volunteers at 16 different places for each of three 16-hour days. Please consider volunteering at least 4 hours for specific jobs, but preferably 8 hours where we can place you where needed. There will be water and snacks in the Volunteer Room for all volunteers. In addition, four-hour volunteers will receive $10 for parking and access to the competition ballroom during your session. USA Dance Inc. will pay for parking for eight-or more-hour volunteers who use valet parking at the hotel, one meal (lunch or dinner) in the President’s suite, and access to the competition ballroom throughout the day.

               For more detail, please sign up at https://usadancenationals.org/volunteers/

USA DANCE PITTSBURGH ACTIVITIES

February 21 Monthly Dance at Winchester Thurston School, 555 Morewood Street at the corner of Ellsworth Ave, Shadyside. Building & parking lot entrance off Ellsworth, adjacent to the sports field. Dmitry Demidov teaching International Foxtrot and Brittany Demidov, DJ.  

We thank Matias Jonsson, Irina Yarovoi and their musician friends for the International Rumba lesson on January 17 at Wightman School.

Consignment Shop donations possible at Nationals If costumes don’t sell. Our chapter will donate them to support the collegiate ballroom dance clubs. Jane Downing.

Hope to see you dancing,
Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh (3007)
dancer008-@outlook.com

PRESIDENT’S LETTER, PITTSBURGH CHAPTER USA DANCE. NOVEMBER 8, 2025

USA Dance Inc. is racing to get ready for the new National Dance Festival on March 27-29, 2026 with four tracks: Ballroom DanceSport Championships; Collegiate Ballroom DanceSport Championships; Social Dance Celebration; and Professional Summit. Here’s the latest exciting partial update!

OVERALL CHANGES (Affecting All Activities)

Lay Out Improvements:

• New 60’x80’ Main Ballroom Dance Floor to allow split floor competitions with theater and table seating on 3 sides. On Deck will be where the stage used to be, and the Practice Room will be the former On Deck area.
• Old Practice Room (Kings 4/5) will have a regulation size floor for dance workshops & two evening Social Dances
• Dance workshops also will be held in Kings 2/3 with an expanded floor
• Panel workshops probably will be in Kings 1 (former overflow awards room)

Scheduling:

• Most rehearsals will move to Thursday night.
• All Pro/Am on Friday; All Am-Am Kids, on Sunday
• “Style Block” scheduling (e.g., Seniors 1-5 in one style simultaneously). Syllabus Seniors in 2 blocks Friday and 2 Saturday; Collegiates/Adults will run on split floors
• Awards will be in the Main Ballroom all three days
• A new Rising Star category with combined age ranges for Championships dancers is being developed

Themed Evening Sessions (before competitions and social dancing)

• Friday –Celebrating Chapters: Social VP Address; Chapter & Nationals Volunteer of the Year; Formations, Show Dances, Professional Events
• Saturday – The Chair’s Address; Nationals Volunteer of the Year; Collegiate Team Match Parade & Team Match
• Sunday – Crowning Champions – Competitor’s Parade; DanceSport VP’s Address; the After Party

Social Celebration & Competitors

• Expanded workshop schedule with two workshops running hourly. Workshops are open to all competitors at no extra costs.

SOCIAL CELEBRATION

A multi-day dance camp with workshops accessible to social dancers and competitors

• Workshops held simultaneously in 2 rooms each hour for 1.5 days plus Panel Discussions & Chapter Leadership workshop.
• Multi-hour social dances on Friday/Saturday evenings
• Spectator access to the National Championships
  • Options to pay Go on line to https://usadancenationals.org/social-celebration to see overall, day, and event packages, workshop fees, evening programs.

USA DANCE PITTSBURGH ACTIVITIES

November 15 Monthly Dance at Arthur Murray Dance Robinson Studio, 5407 Steubenville Pike, McKees Rocks. 7-8, Samba Lesson by Jon & Stratton DeWitt. 8-10:30 pm. General dancing with Bobby D, Disc Jockey

American Dancer Magazine Publicity for Pittsburgh. The November issue (https://americandancer.org) features the Carnegie Classic Through a Camera Lens including photos of local dancers by Jay Kuntz, a local photographer. A picture of John  & Deana Foley, Senior III dancers, is in an article about Seniors in DanceSport Competition 2026. The competition schedules for those planning on qualifying for Nationals is updated regularly in AM. Recent articles explain the new proficiency system to encourage dancers to dance at their normal level or higher and expectations for 2026 Nationals.

Reminder:  No USA Dance in December.

See you January 17^th @ Wightman Community Center

Best wishes for a great holiday season!

Hope to see you dancing,
Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh (3007)
dancer008-@outlook.com

PITTSBURGH CHAPTER (3007) USA DANCE, INC. PRESIDENT’S LETTER AUGUST 2025

Hi!  Hope you’re having a great summer! Mine is being consumed by planning for the USA Dance National Ballroom DanceSport Championships (Nationals), March 27-29, 2026, at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.

Under Chuck Garret’s leadership, for the first time, USA Dance Inc. has combined its major national activities at Nationals:

• DanceSport Championships.
• Collegiate DanceSport Championships.
• Social Dance Celebration.
• Professional Excellence Summit.

I’d like to encourage you to think about participating in one or more of these activities as a social dance participant, a competitor, a spectator or a volunteer.

The Social Dance Celebration is brand new and is being organized as a multi-day dance camp. Activities will include two workshops with local and national instructors running hourly for 1 ½ days; multi-hour social dances on Friday and Saturday evenings; panel discussions with USA Dance leaders and champion athletes; Chapter leadership workshops; and spectator access to the competitions throughout. Social dancers can also compete in the Fun Dances (see below) as amateur couples or with a professional.  

The core of the DanceSport Championships will remain the same -i.e. competitions in International and American Style dances for amateur couples or Pro/Am couples ages 7 to 80+ in syllabus proficiency levels from Pre-Bronze to Gold and open levels from Novice to Elite.  Changes are likely in the competition format (e.g. split floors) and the Collegiate Team Match, and scheduling, including style- block programming.

Details of the Professional Excellence Summit are being finalized but may include panel discussions on how to become a competition professional and a certification test for at least one type of professionals who help oversee competitions.  

USA Dance Inc., its 150 chapters, and all its competitions are run by volunteers. Volunteers will be needed in over 20 different locations for 15+ hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some spots need 4-hour commitments; others, only two hours.  Our past history indicates a need for about 60 volunteers. We’ll need more in 2026.

If you are considering dancing as a competitor, now is the time to start getting ready. Competitors will be classified as USA Dance DanceSport members (or athletes) which implies preparation. So, why would you want to dance in Nationals 2026 as a competitor?  A few reasons:

• Practicing for competitions helps focus your learning patterns and techniques in order to perform at the highest level you can, no matter what level you’re working on.
• It’s a place to test whether you want to pursue competitions in the future. Most of us want to be social dancers, but some will learn they like the challenges presented by competitions
• It will be the cheapest competition ever – as there are no transportation and probably no hotel costs.

If you’re taking lessons at a studio to learn some of the 10 dances in the International Standard or Latin syllabus or the 9 dances in the American Smooth or Rhythm syllabus, and want to compete, ask your instructor if s/he would like to compete with you at the dance level you’re learning.  Individual adult dancers, except collegiates and Pro/Am couples, must qualify by participating in certified USAD competitions prior to Nationals.  You need 6 points as an amateur adult couple to compete at Nationals by attending two of the following competitions:

• October 11, 2025. Carnegie Classic, Carnegie Mellon University – a Collegiate Challenge (2 points)
• October 31-November 2, 2025. Midwest Dance Sport Championship, Chicago. Regional Competition (4 points)
• January 17-19, 2026. The MAC. Newark, New Jersey. Regional Competition (4 points)
• January 31, 2026.  Ohio State University Collegiate Challenge. Columbus, Ohio (2 points)

If you’re a social dancer with an interest in any of the Fun Dances – Argentine Tango, Bachata, Country Two Step, Hustle, Merengue, Night Club Two Step, Salsa or West Coast Swing – there are no prior qualifications for amateur or Pro/Am couples. Find a partner and begin to practice dances and routines to perform at the Fun Dance competitions, most likely scheduled on Friday afternoon.

On our more local efforts:  Thanks to Brian Lee, the DJ for our June 21 and July 19 dances at the Wightman School Community Center and Tango instructor in June, and Jon and Stratton DeWitt Foxtrot instructors in July. Our next dance on August 16 will be at the VFW in Coraopolis.  Dmitry Demidov will teach Jitterbug and Brittany Demidov will be the DJ.  The theme is Elvis Remembered.

Hope to see you dancing,
Jane Downing, President, USA Dance Pittsburgh (3007)